Nutanix NCP-DB - Nutanix Certified Professional - Database Automation (NCP-DB v6.10)

The Era copy data management service includes several components, one of which is the Time Machine. The Time Machine is responsible for collecting logs and snapshots from the database123. This functionality allows for granular clone and refresh operations, making it a crucial part of the Nutanix Era’s database as a service (DBaaS) solution1.

According to the Nutanix Database Automation (NCP-DB) learning documents, an administrator can change the snapshot schedule for a given database by selecting the Time Machine, then under Action, select Update and define an appropriate schedule1. This is because the Time Machine in Nutanix Era allows you to specify the number of backups or snapshots the time machine should take, the time of day it takes those snapshots, and the day of the week it takes weekly or monthly backups1. These options help you build a complete schedule of time machine capture operations1. Even if the Time Machine is in a paused state, the administrator can still update the schedule1. Cloning the Time Machine or the database is not necessary for changing the snapshot schedule1.

To install NDB on a Nutanix AHV cluster, you need to download the QCOW2 image file of NDB from the Nutanix Support Portal and upload it to Prism Element. This image file contains the NDB software and the CentOS operating system. After uploading the image, you need to create a VM from the image and configure the network settings. Then, you need to register the NDB VM with Prism Central and enable the NDB service in the settings menu. References: Nutanix Support & Insights, Professional Services: NDB Database Cloning

Page files are temporary files that Windows uses to store data that does not fit in the physical memory. Page files can interfere with the registration of a database server VM with NDB, as they can cause errors or performance issues. Therefore, page files should be located in a separate drive or partition from the C:\ drive, where the NDB agent and other files are installed. System, database, and backup files do not prevent the registration of a database server VM with NDB, as long as they are not corrupted or incompatible with the NDB requirements. References:

Nutanix Database Management & Automation Training Course, Module 2: Deploying and Configuring an NDB Solution, Lesson 2: Configuring an NDB Instance, Slide 13: Registering Database Server VMs

Nutanix Certified Professional - Database Automation (NCP-DB) 5 Exam, Section 4: Operate and Maintain an NDB Environment, Objective 4.1: Apply procedural concepts to register database server VMs and databases

In NDB, a Time Machine manages snapshots and log catch-up operations for database protection and recovery. The scenario describes a Time Machine where automatic snapshot and log catch-up activities (both automatic and manual) are halted, and manual snapshots cannot be created. This indicates the Time Machine is in a PAUSED state.

In NDB, the Time Machine states are:

FROZEN: A temporary state during specific operations (e.g., cloning), but it doesn’t halt all activities permanently.

OFFLINE: Indicates the Time Machine is unavailable or not operational, often due to connectivity or configuration issues, but this typically prevents access rather than just halting operations.

PAUSED: Explicitly stops all scheduled and manual snapshot/log activities, often manually triggered by an administrator or due to an error condition (e.g., resource constraints). Operations resume when unpaused.

READY: The normal operational state where snapshots and log catch-ups occur as scheduled.

Given the inability to create manual snapshots alongside halted automatic operations, PAUSED is the most fitting status, as it reflects an intentional or enforced suspension of activities.

Official Nutanix Database Automation References

Nutanix Database Management & Automation (NDMA) course, Module 5: Data Protection and Recovery, Lesson 5.2: Managing Time Machines.

Nutanix Certified Professional - Database Automation (NCP-DB) v6.5 Knowledge Objectives, Section 5: Protect Databases Using NDB, Objective 5.2: Manage Time Machine States (applicable to v6.10).

Nutanix NDB Administration Guide: "Time Machine Statuses and Operations" section.

For an NDB offline upgrade, you need to download the upgrade bundle from the Nutanix Support Portal and copy it to the NDB server. Then, you need to use the NDB CLI command upload upgrade_bundle with the path parameter to specify the location of the upgrade bundle file. This command will upload the upgrade bundle to the NDB server and verify its integrity. After uploading the upgrade bundle, you can use the upgrade command to perform the upgrade. References: Nutanix Support & Insights, Cisco Nexus Data Broker Deployment Guide, Release 3.10.x

NDB Agents handle log backups for database instances, but storing these backups locally can lead to bottlenecks (e.g., disk I/O, storage capacity). To alleviate this, integrating NDB with Nutanix Objects is the recommended solution. Nutanix Objects is an S3-compatible object storage service within the Nutanix ecosystem, ideal for offloading log backups from NDB Agents to a scalable, centralized storage platform. This reduces local storage pressure, improves performance, and ensures strict SLAs for database recovery by leveraging efficient backup retrieval.

Other options are less effective:

A: Integrating with AWS S3 or Azure Blob is possible but requires external connectivity and introduces latency, complexity, and cost compared to Nutanix Objects.

B: Adding NDB Agent VMs increases management overhead and doesn’t address the root storage bottleneck.

D: Increasing RAM/CPU on NDB Agents may help processing but doesn’t solve storage capacity or I/O issues for log backups.

Thus, C is the verified answer, aligning with Nutanix’s integrated ecosystem approach.

Official Nutanix Database Automation References

Nutanix Database Management & Automation (NDMA) course, Module 5: Data Protection and Recovery, Lesson 5.3: Configuring Log Backup Storage.

Nutanix Certified Professional - Database Automation (NCP-DB) v6.5 Knowledge Objectives, Section 5: Protect Databases Using NDB, Objective 5.3: Configure Backup Storage Options (applicable to v6.10).

Nutanix NDB Administration Guide: "Integrating NDB with Nutanix Objects for Log Backups" section.

A Log Catchup gap in Nutanix Database Service (NDB) occurs when transaction logs are missing or corrupted, disrupting point-in-time restore (PITR) operations for cloning or database restoration via Time Machine. The NDB Time Machine Heal Snapshot feature addresses this by repairing snapshots to resolve such gaps.

Option A (By default the time machine auto-heal feature is enabled) is incorrect because the auto-heal feature is not enabled by default; it requires explicit configuration or manual invocation.

Option B (Manual Heal is only used when gaps in Log Catchup are detected once the operation has begun failing) is incorrect because manual heal can be initiated proactively or reactively, not solely after failure detection.

Option C is correct because a successful Time Machine Heal process restores the snapshot integrity, allowing PITR to span the previously gapped period.

Option D is correct as the auto-heal process, when enabled, runs every 5 minutes to detect and address healable conditions, aligning with NDB’s automated maintenance schedule.

Together, C and D reflect the operational mechanics of the Heal Snapshot feature.

References

Nutanix Database Service (NDB) User Guide, Chapter 5: Configuring Time Machines, Section: Healing Snapshot Gaps

Nutanix Support & Insights, Knowledge Base Article: "Resolving Log Catchup Gaps with Time Machine Heal"

Nutanix Certified Professional - Database Automation (NCP-DB) v6.5 Blueprint, Section 5: Protect Databases Using Time Machine

 An Infrastructure Administrator is a role in NDB that has the permission to manage network and storage resources, such as VLANs, IP Pools, and Storage Containers. This role is suitable for the engineer who needs to add new VLANs or IP Pools in NDB. The other roles have either more or less privileges than required for this task. A Database Administrator can manage databases and database server VMs, but not network and storage resources. A Super Administrator can manage all aspects of NDB, but this is more than the least-privilege access needed. A Database Infrastructure Administrator can manage both databases and network and storage resources, but this is also more than the least-privilege access needed.

References: Nutanix Support & Insights, section “NDB Roles and Permissions”

In NDB, database groups are used to manage multiple Microsoft SQL Server databases collectively, enabling centralized administration and protection policies. The statement "Databases within a database group can share multiple Time Machine configurations" is true. A Time Machine in NDB manages snapshots and log backups for recovery, and a database group can be associated with multiple Time Machine configurations to support different retention policies or recovery point objectives (RPOs) for the databases within the group. This flexibility allows tailored data protection strategies.

Other options are incorrect:

A. Microsoft recommends 35 databases within a single database group: There is no specific Microsoft recommendation for this limit; NDB imposes its own constraints based on performance and resource usage.

C. NDB supports one database group per database server VM or database server cluster: NDB allows multiple database groups per server or cluster, depending on configuration.

D. Databases within a database group must be all of the same size: NDB does not enforce uniform database sizes within a group.

Thus, the verified answer is B, reflecting NDB’s Time Machine flexibility.

Official Nutanix Database Automation References

Nutanix Database Management & Automation (NDMA) course, Module 3: Managing Database Instances, Lesson 3.6: Managing Database Groups.

Nutanix Certified Professional - Database Automation (NCP-DB) v6.5 Knowledge Objectives, Section 3: Manage NDB Solutions, Objective 3.5: Configure Database Groups (applicable to v6.10).

Nutanix NDB Administration Guide: "Database Groups and Time Machine Configurations" section.